Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

Generative Now is a weekly series from Lightspeed, highlighting the stories, strategies and insights behind today's most exciting AI companies and how they’ll change everything about the way we work. Inspired by the popular in-person Generative Meetups in places like New York, San Francisco, LA and Europe, host and Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano will speak with founders, engineers, designers and other leaders that are leveraging AI to take their product to new heights. Listen and follow Generative Now wherever you get your podcasts.

Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future is a technology podcast hosted by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with 90 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Lightspeed Venture Partners hosts Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future, a technology show with 90 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #73

  Tanay Kothari: Creating a Post-Keyboard Future

  Oct 16, 202546 minS2

  In this episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano sits down with Tanay Kothari, the co-founder and CEO of Wispr Flow, an AI-powered voice dictation platform. Tanay traces his path from building dozens of apps as a teen in Delhi to now, and how those experiences inspired him to make one of the first “zero-edit” voice products. Tanay gets into training in-house models, beating sub-second latency, and explains his approach to onboarding customers with the goal of changing behavior. He also discusses what’s next for the future of voice products and why he predicts a post-keyboard future. For more information on Wispr Flow, please visit https://wisprflow.ai and https://wisprflow.ai/careers 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 01:26 Tenay's Background and Early Inspirations 02:29 Building and Selling Feather X 03:52 The Birth of Whisper Flow 04:25 Early App Development and Challenges 06:39 Innovative Projects and User Impact 11:45 Whisper Flow's Differentiated Approach 18:57 Technical Challenges and Solutions 22:23 Design and User Experience23:19 Personal Onboarding Experience 23:40 Building User Habits 24:43 Inspiration from Video Games 26:11 Onboarding Mechanics in Whisper 29:00 Challenges of Deep Integration 32:10 Transition from Hardware to Software 38:30 Future of Voice Technology 47:42 Upcoming Features and Opportunities Stay in touch: www.lsvp.com X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co Email: generativenow@lsvp.com The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #72

  Inside the Black Box: The Urgency of AI Interpretability

  Oct 2, 20251h 2mS2

  Recorded live at Lightspeed’s offices in San Francisco, this special episode of Generative Now dives into the urgency and promise of AI interpretability. Lightspeed partner Nnamdi Iregbulem spoke with Anthropic researcher Jack Lindsey and Goodfire co-founder and Chief Scientist Tom McGrath, who previously co-founded Google DeepMind’s interpretability team. They discuss opening the black box of modern AI models in order to understand their reliability and spot real-world safety concerns, in order to build AI systems of the future that we can trust. Episode Chapters: 00:42 Welcome and Introduction 00:36 Overview of Lightspeed and AI Investments 03:19 Event Agenda and Guest Introductions 05:35 Discussion on Interpretability in AI 18:44 Technical Challenges in AI Interpretability 29:42 Advancements in Model Interpretability 30:05 Smarter Models and Interpretability 31:26 Models Doing the Work for Us 32:43 Real-World Applications of Interpretability 34:32 Philanthropics' Approach to Interpretability 39:15 Breakthrough Moments in AI Interpretability 44:41 Challenges and Future Directions 48:18 Neuroscience and Model Training Insights 54:42 Emergent Misalignment and Model Behavior 01:01:30 Concluding Thoughts and Networking Stay in touch: www.lsvp.com X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co Email: generativenow@lsvp.com The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #71

  From Periscope to Macroscope: Kayvon Beykpour’s Vision for AI-Powered Development

  Sep 17, 20251h 3mS2

  In this episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano sits down with Kayvon Beykpour, co-founder and CEO of Macroscope, which launches today, and the former co-founder of Periscope. They dive into how Macroscope will serve as an “understanding engine” for software companies, giving leaders real-time visibility and saving engineers time with AI-powered workflows. Kayvon reflects on his journey from building Periscope and leading product at Twitter to reimagining how teams manage both human and agentic workforces. They get into philosophies on starting companies, management styles, and how AI could be the thing that helps managers solve their biggest challenges. Episode Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:52 Introducing Macroscope: The New Product 01:24 The Problem Macroscope Solves 02:30 How Macroscope Works 03:52 The Future of AI in Software Development 08:58 Empowering Leaders with Macroscope 10:56 Kayvon's Journey: From College Startup to Macroscope 16:22 The Periscope Story: From Idea to Acquisition 28:22 The Rise and Challenges of Periscope 32:43 Twitter's Live Feature Evolution 33:59 Integrating Audio Conversations 35:07 Challenges in Twitter's Product Strategy 35:32 The Clubhouse Acquisition Attempt 36:27 Twitter's Cultural Shift with Spaces 38:48 Managing Large Teams at Twitter 44:05 Macroscope: The Genesis 47:03 The Role of LLMs in Macroscope 48:36 The Elon Musk Encounter 54:23 The Pivot to Macroscope 59:21 Future of Macroscope and Product Development Stay in touch: www.lsvp.com X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co Email: generativenow@lsvp.com The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #70

  Walk & Talk Episode: Semil Shah on AI Superteams, Meta’s Bold Moves, and Apple’s Missed Shots

  Aug 26, 202557 minS2

  In this special episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano talks with Semil Shah, founder and partner of Haystack VC and partner at Lightspeed. Together, they have a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation on the state of AI, venture capital, and the future of media. They get into everything from Meta’s high-stakes AI talent spree and Apple’s uncertain strategy, to the Figma IPO, to the evolution of the seed stage, and the brewing battle between AI agents and the open web. Semil also shares hard-earned insights on founder strategy, brand building, and why design still wins. Episode Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Reflecting on Long Island 01:47 M&A Frenzy and Talent Wars 02:10 Meta's Strategic Moves 06:30 Apple's AI Strategy 11:12 Figma's IPO Success 21:33 The State of Seed Investing 25:30 The Model's Mathematical Basis 26:00 Case Study: Firebase Acquisition 27:19 Seed Fund Strategies and Challenges 30:30 Founders' Incentives and Signal Risk 36:40 AI Agents vs. CDNs: A Legal Playground 42:57 The Evolution of Podcasts and Media 51:31 The Future of AI Branding 56:03 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Stay in touch: www.lsvp.com X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co Email: generativenow@lsvp.com The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal .

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #69

  Rahul Vohra: Building AI Tools That Save Us Time

  Jul 24, 202543 minS2

  In this episode of Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner Michael Mignano sits down with Rahul Vohra, founder of the email client Superhuman, to unpack the future of AI-powered productivity. Rahul shares the origin story of Superhuman, how game design principles shaped its blazing speed and keyboard-first UX, and why time—not email—is the real problem it solves. He dives into the thinking behind their recent acquisition by Grammarly, his vision for an AI-native productivity suite, and what it means to build both apps and agents for the future. Episode Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview 01:00 The Superhuman Email Experience 02:28 Building Superhuman: Challenges and Innovations 04:50 The Importance of Speed and Efficiency 05:36 Superhuman's Unique Features and Early Decisions 11:44 The Acquisition by Grammarly 15:35 The Vision for an AI Native Productivity Suite 22:32 Exploring Verticalized Workflows 22:52 The Excitement of the Superhuman-Grammarly Deal 24:23 The Strategy of Bundling 28:10 AI's Role in Future Productivity 32:26 Superhuman's Use of AI 41:53 Lessons from Previous Acquisitions Stay in touch: www.lsvp.com X: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/ Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.co Email: generativenow@lsvp.com The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. The views expressed by our guests do not necessarily represent the views of Lightspeed. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal .

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.